Smith Takes First Place At East Stroudsburg Open

Liberty University wrestler Christian Smith made the most of his inaugural outing as a Flame by claiming first place in the 125 pound division at the East Stroudsburg Open this past weekend.

Smith transferred to Liberty from Virginia Tech last spring and has to sit out of team competition until the completion of the fall semester to fulfill his NCAA transfer requirements. However, the junior is able to compete unattached at open tournaments before he officially joins the active team roster on December 20 when Liberty travels to Reno, Nev., for the Reno Invitational Tournament.

Smith began the East Stroudsburg Open with a technical fall win over Maryland's Casey Marwine in the second period as he blanked Marwine, 15-0, at the 4:51 mark. Smith continued with a 9-0 major decision win over Army's Lance Penhale, followed by a first period pin at 1:15 against East Stroudsburg's Craig Morton.

In the semifinal round, Smith picked up a 19-4 major decision victory over Army's Davey Mason, before blanking Old Dominion's James Nicholson, 7-0, in the finals to claim the weight class championship.

Smith is scheduled to compete unattached in this weekend's Penn State Open hosted by Penn State in State College, Pa., where a portion of the Flames' roster will be competing as a team on Sunday. The remainder of the squad will take to the mats on Saturday at the Spartan Invitational hosted by York College in York, Pa.